BREAKING: INEC Declares Tinubu Winner of Presidential Election
By Alabidun Shuaib AbdulRahman
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared Bola Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, as the president-elect of Nigeria. Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos State, won the election after polling 8,794,726 votes in the 2023 presidential election.
Professor Mahmood Yakubu, the INEC Chairman, announced Tinubu’s victory at the International Collation Centre in Abuja in the early hours of Wednesday. Tinubu defeated his closest rival, Atiku Abubakar, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, by 1.8 million votes.
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Other contenders in the presidential race were Peter Obi of the Labour Party and Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria Peoples Party. The three leading presidential candidates won in 12 states each, while Kwankwaso only won Kano State.
Aside from being a two-term governor of Lagos State, Tinubu is credited with leading the coalition that ousted the PDP from power in 2015. He has extended his influence beyond the South-West region in recent years.
The presidential race had a total of 17 candidates, including Dumebi Kachikwu of the African Democratic Congress, Kola Abiola of the People’s Redemption Party, and Omoyele Sowore of Africa Action Congress.
A tally of the votes announced by electoral officials from the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory showed that Tinubu won in Borno, Rivers, Zamfara, Kwara, Kogi, Benue, Ogun, Oyo, Ondo, Ekiti, and Jigawa states. Atiku emerged victorious in Bauchi, Yobe, Gombe, Kaduna, Kebbi, Bayelsa, Adamawa, and Akwa Ibom. Obi won Lagos, Enugu, Cross River, Nasarawa, Imo, Anambra, Abia, Delta, Plateau states, and the FCT.
In the final computation, the APC polled 8,794,726 votes, PDP amassed 6,984,520 votes, LP scored 6,101,533 votes, and NNPP garnered 1,496,687 votes.
Professor Yakubu declared Tinubu as the winner, stating that he had satisfied the requirements of the law and is hereby declared the winner and returned elected.
